Story 1:
Boyle - Skeptical Chemist
Boyle was born on January 25, 1627, into an aristocratic family in Ireland. His father was an earl and his family was wealthy. He is the youngest of fourteen brothers. When he was a child, Boyle was not particularly smart, and he still had a stutter in his speech. He did not like lively games, but he was very studious and liked to read and think quietly. He received a good education from an early age and traveled to Europe from 1639 to 1644. During this period, he read many natural science books, including the famous "Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems" by the astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei. This book made a deep impression on him. His later famous book "The Skeptical Chemist" was written in imitation of this book.
Due to the war, the death of his father, and the decline of his family, he returned to China in 1644 and lived with his sister in London. There he began to study medicine and agriculture. During my studies, I was exposed to a lot of chemical knowledge and chemical experiments, and I quickly became a well-trained chemical experimenter and a creative theorist. During this period, he organized a scientific society with many scholars to hold weekly discussions, mainly discussing the latest developments in natural science and problems encountered in the laboratory. Boyle called this organization the "invisible university." This society is the predecessor of the famous "Royal Society" whose purpose is to promote the development of natural sciences. Boyle was an important member of the Society. Since the branch of the Society was located in Oxford, Boyle moved to Oxford in 1654. In Oxford, he established a well-equipped laboratory and hired some very talented scholars as assistants to lead them in various scientific researches. Many of his scientific research results were achieved here. The epoch-making masterpiece "The Skeptical Chemist" was written here. This book is written in the form of a dialogue about four philosophers debating issues together. They are a skeptical chemist, a peripatetic chemist, a medicinal chemist and a philosopher. The Peripatetic chemists represent Aristotle's "four-element theory" view, and the medicinal chemists represent the "three-element theory" view. Philosophers remain neutral in the debate. Here, skeptical chemists fearlessly challenge various authoritative traditional theories in history, refuting many old ideas and proposing new insights with crisp and powerful arguments. The book was widely circulated in continental Europe.
Boyle attached great importance to experimental research. He believed that only experiment and observation were the basis of scientific thinking. He always illustrated his views through rigorous and scientific experiments. In physics, he studied the color of light, vacuum and air elasticity, and summarized Boyle's gas law; in chemistry, he studied acids, bases and indicators, and qualitatively tested methods for salts. The discussions were quite fruitful. He was the first chemist to use the sap of various natural plants as indicators. He invented litmus solution and litmus paper. He was also the first chemist to clearly define acids and bases, and divided substances into three categories: acids, bases, and salts. He created many methods for qualitative testing of salts, such as testing copper salts by using the blue color of copper salt solution and adding ammonia solution to turn into dark blue (copper ions form copper ammonia complex ions with sufficient ammonia water); using hydrochloric acid and nitric acid Mixing silver solutions can produce white precipitates to test silver salts and hydrochloric acid. Boyle's inventions have such a long-lasting vitality that we still use these oldest methods today. Boyle also did many experiments in determining the composition and purity of substances, and studying the similarities and differences of substances. In "A Brief Review of the History of Experimental Research on Mineral Waters" published in 1685, he described a set of methods for identifying substances and became a pioneer of qualitative analysis.
In 1668, due to the death of his brother-in-law, he moved to London to live with his sister, and established a laboratory in the backyard of his home to continue his experimental work. In his later years, Boyle's work mainly focused on the study of phosphorus. In 1670, Boyle suffered a stroke due to overwork, and his health subsequently waxed and waned. When he was unable to conduct research in the laboratory, he devoted himself to organizing the knowledge he had gained from practice and reasoning over the years. As long as the body feels a little light, he goes to the laboratory to do his experiments or writes papers and has fun doing so.
In 1680, he was elected president of the Royal Society, but he declined the honor. Although he was born into a noble family, his lifelong passion was working and living in scientific research. He never married and devoted his life to the exploration of natural sciences. On December 30, 1691, this scientist who laid the foundation for chemical science in the 17th century died in London. Engels once made the most noble evaluation of him: "Boyle established chemistry as a science."
Story 2:
Priestley - the father of gas chemistry
Priestley was born in Leeds, England, on March 13, 1733. He grew up in a difficult family and was raised by relatives. Entered the seminary in 175. After graduation, he spent most of his time as a pastor, and chemistry was his hobby. He has many works in chemistry, electricity, natural philosophy, theology, etc. He wrote many theological works of which he was proud, but it was his scientific works that made him famous throughout the ages. In 1764, when he was 31 years old, he wrote "History of Electricity". This was a very famous book at the time. Due to the publication of this book, he was elected as a member of the Royal Society in 1766.
In 1722, when he was 39 years old, he wrote another "History of Optics". It is also a famous book from the late 18th century. At that time, he was working as a priest in Leeds and began to engage in chemical research. His research on gases was quite fruitful. He used the produced hydrogen to study the effect of the gas on various metal oxides. In the same year, Priestley also burned charcoal in a sealed container and found that one-fifth of the air could be turned into carbonic acid gas. After being absorbed with lime water, the remaining gas did not support combustion or breathing. Because he believed in the phlogiston theory, he called the remaining gas "air saturated with phlogiston." Apparently he used charcoal burning and lye absorption to remove oxygen and carbonic acid from the air to produce nitrogen. In addition, he discovered nitrogen oxide (NO) and used it in the analysis of air. Various gases such as hydrogen chloride, ammonia, sulfurous acid gas (carbon dioxide), nitrous oxide, and oxygen have also been discovered or studied. In 1766, his "Experiments and Observations on Several Gases" was published in three volumes. This book describes in detail the preparation or properties of various gases. Because of his outstanding achievements in gas research, he is known as the "Father of Gas Chemistry".
The most important thing in the study of gases is the discovery of oxygen. In 1774, Priestley put mercury soot (mercury oxide) in a glass dish and heated it with a condenser, and found that it quickly decomposed into gas. He originally thought that the gas released was air, so he used the gas collection method to collect the gas produced and conducted research. He found that the gas made the candle burn more vigorously, and he felt very relaxed and comfortable breathing it. He produced oxygen and experimentally proved that oxygen has the properties of assisting combustion and respiration. But because he was a stubborn believer in phlogistonism and still believed that air was a single gas, he also called this gas "dephlogisticated air", whose properties were only different from the "air saturated with phlogiston" (nitrogen) discovered earlier. The difference lies in the content of phlogiston, so the combustion-supporting ability is different. In the same year, he visited Europe and exchanged many chemical views with Lavoisier in Paris. He also told Lavoisier about the experiment of using a condenser to decompose mercury ash, which benefited Lavoisier a lot. Lavoisier repeated Priestley's experiments on oxygen, connected them with a large number of accurate experimental materials, made scientific analysis and judgment, and revealed the true connection between combustion and air. However, until 1783, when Lavoisier's theory of combustion and oxidation was generally considered correct, Priestley still did not accept Lavoisier's explanation. He still insisted on the wrong phlogiston theory and wrote many articles against it. Lavoisier's insights. This is an interesting fact from the history of chemistry. A man who discovered oxygen became an opponent of the oxidation theory. However, Priestley's discovery of oxygen was an important factor in the subsequent flourishing of chemistry. Therefore, chemists from all over the world still respect Priestley.
In 1791, because he sympathized with the French Revolution, he gave several propaganda speeches for the revolution. However, he was persecuted by some people, his home was confiscated, and his books and experimental equipment were burned. He escaped alone and took refuge in London, but it was difficult to stay in London for long. In 1794, at the age of sixty-one, he had to emigrate to the United States.
Continue to pursue scientific research in the United States. Died of illness in 1804. People in Britain and the United States respect him very much, and there is a full-length statue of him in Britain. In the United States, the house where he lived has been built as a memorial, and the Priestley Medal named after him has become the highest honor in American chemistry.
Story 3:
Marie Curie
Marie Curie (Madame Curie) was a French-Polish physicist and chemist.
In 1898, French physicist Antoine Henri Becquerel discovered that uranium-containing minerals can emit a mysterious ray, but he failed to reveal the mystery of this ray. Marie and her husband Pierre Curie jointly undertook the work of studying this ray. They separated and analyzed pitchblende under extremely difficult conditions, and finally discovered two new elements in July and December 1898.
In honor of her native Poland, she named one element polonium and another radium, which means "the substance imparting radioactivity". In order to obtain pure radium compounds, Marie Curie spent another four years (Marie CuI7e, 1867--1934) extracting 100 mg of radium chloride from tons of pitchblende slag, and initially measured the concentration of radium. The relative atomic mass is 225. This simple number embodies the hard work and sweat of the Curies.
In June 1903, Marie Curie obtained a doctorate in physics from the University of Paris with "Research on Radioactive Substances" as her doctoral thesis. In November of the same year, the Curies were awarded the David Gold Medal by the Royal Society. In December, they and Becquerel won the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics.
In 1906, Pierre Curie died in a car accident. This heavy blow did not make her give up her persistent pursuit. She endured her grief and worked harder to complete their beloved scientific career. She continued the lectures given by her husband at the University of Paris and became the first female professor at the school. In 1910, her famous book "On Radioactivity" was published. With Mu, she collaborated with others to analyze pure metal radium and measure its properties. She also determined the half-lives of oxygen and other elements and published a series of important treatises on radioactivity. In view of the above-mentioned major achievements, she won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911, becoming the first great scientist in history to win the Nobel Prize twice.
The founder of radioactive science, who had experienced the ups and downs of science, became ill due to years of hard work and suffered from pernicious anemia (leukemia). She unfortunately passed away on July 4, 1934. She contributed greatly to the scientific cause of mankind. , dedicated a glorious life.
Fourth:
Darwin's exploration of the biological chain
One day in late spring of 1843, from a small town named Tang En, more than 10 kilometers away from London, England In the town, a young man in his early thirties walked out. He was the biologist Darwin.
It was a sunny day, and some beautiful butterflies and bees were flying around in the fields full of flowers. Darwin walked straight to a clover field full of pink flowers. He came to observe, analyze and study the cereal plants in the field.
Darwin first observed the flowers of clover. He wanted to see how these flowers reproduced and who were their matchmakers? Darwin saw many bumblebees flying over the clover. Some of the bumblebees stopped on the flowers and were digging their nectar-sucking organs into the ground. Insert into the nectaries of the flower stamens to suck nectar. He knew that these bumblebees were the matchmakers that helped pollinate the clover and reproduce its offspring. Darwin observed for several days and saw that there were a lot of bumblebees this year; and in the summer, the clover also produced a lot of seeds. There is a bumper clover harvest.
In the spring of the next year, Darwin went to observe again. He found that there were very few bumblebees collecting honey in the clover this year; and during the summer harvest, the number of seeds produced by the clover was greatly reduced; the clover harvest failed. This is obviously because there are fewer bumblebees, which reduces the opportunity to pollinate the clover.
He was thinking again: Why were there fewer bumblebees this year? So Darwin searched for the bumblebees again. Finally, he found bumblebees in some rock holes and tree holes. At the same time, he made a new discovery - many honeycombs were destroyed by rats and had eaten all the honey. In this way, Darwin understood again that it was the number of rats that determined the number of bumblebees. If there were more rats, they would destroy more bumblebees, and there would be fewer bumblebees.
Later, Darwin observed that the number of mice was determined by the number of cats. It turns out that there are such interesting and complex relationships between clovers, bumblebees, mice and cats, which seem to be completely unrelated plants and animals. In this way, based on the mutual constraints and interdependence between living things, Darwin finally wrote great works such as "The Origin of Species" after further in-depth observation and research, and became the world's outstanding scientist and the founder of the theory of biological evolution in the 19th century.
"King of Inventions" Edison
No one will be surprised how common and common these things are in today's technologically advanced world. But do you know how crucial and ecstatic these things were to people at that time? Humanity therefore remembers their inventor - Edison.
Edison, known as the "King of Inventions", is a famous American scientist and inventor. During his lifetime, he had 1,328 inventions registered with the patent office alone. How could a person who had only read books for three months have so many inventions and creations? I think if you have heard the story of "Edison hatching chickens", you will understand that his success stems from strong curiosity.
In 1847, Edison was born into a business family in Milan, Ohio, USA. When he was very young, Edison showed a strong curiosity. Whenever he saw something he didn't understand, he would grab the corners of adults' clothes and ask them non-stop, always asking the ugly ones.
One day, he pointed to the hen that was hatching eggs and asked his mother: "Why is the hen sitting with the eggs under its butt?" His mother said: "Oh, they are hatching chicks!" In the afternoon, Edison suddenly disappeared. The family looked around anxiously and finally found him in the chicken coop. It turned out that he was squatting in the chicken coop with many eggs under his buttocks to hatch chicks! After seeing this, his parents couldn't laugh or cry, so they had to pull him out, wash his face and wash his clothes. Another time, he saw birds flying freely in the sky and thought: Since birds can fly, why can't people fly? So, he found a kind of medicinal powder for his little friend to eat, in order to make him fly into the sky. As a result, the little friend almost died, and Edison was severely beaten by his father.
Finally, when Edison reached the age of 8, his parents sent him to a rural primary school, thinking that from now on he would be able to go to school safely. Unexpectedly, he still loves to get to the bottom of things, and often leaves the teacher dumbfounded and embarrassed. Once in an arithmetic class, the teacher wrote "2 2 = 4" on the blackboard. Edison immediately stood up and asked: "Teacher, why does 2 plus 2 equal 4?" This question stopped the teacher. He thought Edison was a A troublemaker, he was always at odds with his teacher, so after three months of classes, Edison was driven home by his teacher.
Edison’s mother was a great mother. She did not blame him for sending her only son back. On the contrary, he decided to educate the child well by himself. When she discovered that Edison was curious and particularly interested in physics and chemistry, she bought him books about physics and chemistry experiments. Edison followed the book and started experiments alone. It can be said that this is Edison's enlightenment education for scientific inventions.
When Edison grew up, he learned the technology of sending and receiving radio messages. He found work as a night operator on the Stratford Railway Station. According to regulations, the night shift operator must send a signal to the train director once every hour after 9 pm, regardless of whether he or she has something to do. In order to have a good rest at night and be able to delve into inventions and creations during the day, Edison designed a telegraph machine to automatically send signals on time. This was the prototype of the telegraph.
Not long after, he improved the telegraph machine. After many tests, a new telegraph machine was successfully trial-produced. Edison looked at the machine he invented and smiled happily.
It should be said that every invention of Edison is closely related to his curiosity. After he invented the telegraph, he began experimenting with the telephone. He discovered that the diaphragm in the microphone could vibrate in response to the sound of speech, so he observed it carefully and made detailed records in his notebook. From this, a "talking machine" was created. When people heard the news, they came to watch one after another and called him "the greatest inventor". Therefore, curiosity is a prerequisite for a person to succeed and show wisdom.
Not only famous scientists need curiosity, but we ordinary people also need curiosity if we want to learn knowledge and achieve something. In July 1991, the Ministry of Science and Technology of Guangming Daily conducted a questionnaire survey among 118 middle school students who won prizes in the National Youth Science and Technology Invention Competition. In the column "Your main psychological characteristics", 92% of the students wrote "Curiosity" powerful". He Ji, a young man from No. 1 Middle School in Daoxian County, Lingling Prefecture, Hunan Province, went to the chicken shed to collect eggs one day and couldn't help but curiously wondered: Why are the eggs big on one end and small on the other? Does the big head emerge from the mother's body first or the small head emerges from the mother's body first? In order to figure out this problem, he rushed home immediately after school every day, squatted by the chicken shed and observed quietly, sometimes even forgetting to eat dinner. More than two months later, He Ji finally discovered that eggs emerge from the mother's body with the big head first. To this end, he wrote a paper and was praised by many biologists. His discovery was actually a new discovery that had not been recorded in the bird literature.
Being successful requires curiosity, but having curiosity does not mean that you will be successful. If you want to achieve something, you still need to put in hard work. Curiosity is like a seed. Without seeds, towering trees cannot grow. People without curiosity cannot invent or create. After the seeds are sown in the black soil, after people's watering and cultivation, they will gradually break out of the soil and grow from seedlings into pillars. With curiosity, coupled with sweat and hard work, you will definitely become a useful talent. Dr. Li Zhengdao, a famous contemporary physicist, said: "Curiosity is very important. You cannot do science without curiosity. The reason is very simple. Only curiosity can ask questions and solve problems. The terrible thing is that you can't ask questions and you can't take the first step. "Because curiosity is so important, many people call curiosity the first virtue of successful people. For a young man who is ambitious and eager to succeed, curiosity is the most valuable thing.
Whether it is the story of the great inventor Edison or the story of primary and middle school student He Ji, they all prove to us one truth: curiosity - the heart of the inventor.
Are you eager for your flower of wisdom to bloom as soon as possible? Do you long for your creative inspiration to come as soon as possible? Then, observe life carefully! A person who does not love life and is indifferent to everything around him will not have a curious heart. If you want to be a bright star on the future stage of life, take the first step to become a talent from now on - strengthen your curiosity!
Mendeleev
In chemistry textbooks, there is a "Periodic Table of Elements" attached. This table reveals the secrets of the material world and unifies some seemingly unrelated elements to form a complete natural system. Its invention was a pioneering work in the history of modern chemistry and played a huge role in promoting the development of chemistry. Seeing this table, people will think of its earliest inventor - Mendeleev.
Dmitri Ivanovich Mendeleev (1834-1907) was born on February 7, 1834, in Tobolsk, Siberia, Russia. This era was a period of rapid development of European capitalism. The rapid development of production constantly puts forward new requirements for science and technology. Chemistry, like other sciences, has made amazing progress. It was in such an era that Mendeleev was born. Mendeleev loved labor and learning since he was a child. He believes that only labor can enable people to live a happy and fulfilling life